The Seeds of Life program in Timor-Leste helps farmers' groups become commercial seed producers to improve farmers' access to high-quality seed varieties. The program has worked with over 1,500 farmers in 57 groups since 2013. These commercial seed producers sell half their seed to the government and NGOs for distribution, and the other half to traders and shops. This arrangement has benefited farmers through greater access to improved varieties and seed choice. It has also benefited the country by improving seed security and sovereignty and reducing costs. The program has had positive economic and social impacts, including increased income, food security, and social capital in rural communities.
Why youth here aspire to be farmers, the case of Burkina FasoICRISAT
Jobs that are intellectually satisfying, economically rewarding and low on drudgery are the biggest draw for youth anywhere in the world. This is exactly what is drawing youngsters to farming in Burkina Faso, contrary to the trend in many developing countries. The introduction of seed production through projects funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID and others, have led to win-win situations for farmers, agro-dealers and the farming community at large. The growing seed production business is pumping improved varieties into the farming system, improving farmer incomes and providing additional gains to seed producers.
This document discusses a program in Ghana that connects smallholder farmers to the school feeding market through local grain banks. The program addresses challenges like late payments to caterers by providing grain banks with loans to purchase crops from farmers and sell them to caterers on credit. When the government eventually pays the caterers, part of the payment goes to repay the grain banks. This allows 158 farmers to sell over 23 metric tons of crops through 5 grain banks. The program aims to both provide grain banks with a new market and make caterers more willing to buy locally by mitigating payment delays.
Portola Land Company owns and rents 2,000 acres planted with 274,000 almond trees on land developed by Stueve family members, founders and operators of the Alta Dena Dairy.
This document lists the names of over 40 notable cathedrals, churches, monasteries, and other religious buildings located across Europe, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, China, and South America. It also mentions a few universities, estates, and other landmarks. Many of the locations are mentioned more than once and include famous sites such as Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Cologne Cathedral in Germany, and St. Paul's Cathedral in London.
The document provides information for parents about Mid Calder Nursery Class. It introduces the 4 staff members and provides helpful hints for parents. It outlines the nursery curriculum, which focuses on play, interaction and embedding literacy and numeracy. The document details the weekly schedule and activities, including free play, group times, Enjoy-A-Ball sessions and story time. It provides suggestions for how parents can support literacy, numeracy, listening and talking skills at home. It also describes other nursery activities and upcoming home lending activity sacks.
Smart Cities are for Smart People by Harry Dhaul Director General, IPPAIIPPAI
1) Smart cities require smart people who are digitally connected and educated.
2) Existing cities and people must be converted to be digitally smart through digital education and unique identification systems.
3) Adopting smart technologies like voice activation, RFID, facial recognition and mobile governance can improve security, monitor behavior and provide efficient services.
Why youth here aspire to be farmers, the case of Burkina FasoICRISAT
Jobs that are intellectually satisfying, economically rewarding and low on drudgery are the biggest draw for youth anywhere in the world. This is exactly what is drawing youngsters to farming in Burkina Faso, contrary to the trend in many developing countries. The introduction of seed production through projects funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID and others, have led to win-win situations for farmers, agro-dealers and the farming community at large. The growing seed production business is pumping improved varieties into the farming system, improving farmer incomes and providing additional gains to seed producers.
This document discusses a program in Ghana that connects smallholder farmers to the school feeding market through local grain banks. The program addresses challenges like late payments to caterers by providing grain banks with loans to purchase crops from farmers and sell them to caterers on credit. When the government eventually pays the caterers, part of the payment goes to repay the grain banks. This allows 158 farmers to sell over 23 metric tons of crops through 5 grain banks. The program aims to both provide grain banks with a new market and make caterers more willing to buy locally by mitigating payment delays.
Portola Land Company owns and rents 2,000 acres planted with 274,000 almond trees on land developed by Stueve family members, founders and operators of the Alta Dena Dairy.
This document lists the names of over 40 notable cathedrals, churches, monasteries, and other religious buildings located across Europe, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, China, and South America. It also mentions a few universities, estates, and other landmarks. Many of the locations are mentioned more than once and include famous sites such as Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Cologne Cathedral in Germany, and St. Paul's Cathedral in London.
The document provides information for parents about Mid Calder Nursery Class. It introduces the 4 staff members and provides helpful hints for parents. It outlines the nursery curriculum, which focuses on play, interaction and embedding literacy and numeracy. The document details the weekly schedule and activities, including free play, group times, Enjoy-A-Ball sessions and story time. It provides suggestions for how parents can support literacy, numeracy, listening and talking skills at home. It also describes other nursery activities and upcoming home lending activity sacks.
Smart Cities are for Smart People by Harry Dhaul Director General, IPPAIIPPAI
1) Smart cities require smart people who are digitally connected and educated.
2) Existing cities and people must be converted to be digitally smart through digital education and unique identification systems.
3) Adopting smart technologies like voice activation, RFID, facial recognition and mobile governance can improve security, monitor behavior and provide efficient services.
The document outlines Timor-Leste's National Seed System for Released Varieties, which aims to provide local farming families with reliable access to quality seed of improved crop varieties. The system involves crop research and development to identify higher-yielding varieties suited to local conditions. Seed is then produced through commercial, contract, and community channels and subject to quality control. The vision is for enough locally-produced seed to meet one-third of national demand, increasing food security and self-sufficiency. Progress to date includes establishing seed production and distribution networks across the country.
CIMMYT is an international organization that works to sustainably increase the productivity of maize and wheat systems to improve global food security and livelihoods. It has over 70 years of experience in genetic research and development. CIMMYT leads research programs on maize and wheat, develops improved varieties, stores genetic resources, trains thousands of professionals annually, and partners with hundreds of organizations across developing countries. Its work benefits smallholder farmers by increasing yields, improving nutrition, and strengthening agricultural systems.
The document discusses opportunities for increased cooperation between the Dutch agri-food sector and smallholder farmers in developing countries. It argues that greater partnerships could benefit smallholder farmers through professionalization and access to new markets, while also helping Dutch companies access new sourcing opportunities and emerging markets. The campaign aims to encourage businesses, governments, and knowledge institutions to intensify cooperation with smallholder farmers and their organizations to achieve sustainable development goals and meet growing global food demand.
This document provides a business plan for producing nutritional supplements from Moringa oleifera trees. The plan proposes producing Moringa capsule supplements, liquid fertilizer, porridge flour, topical ointment, and herbal iodine powder. The major products will be porridge flour and capsules, targeting feeding programs in schools and orphanages across Western Kenya. The business expects to earn a net profit of $491,026 in year 1, $807,777 in year 2, and $124,587 in year 3, with annual sales reaching $2.3 million by year 3. The business aims to alleviate malnutrition and generate livelihoods through utilizing the abundant and underutilized Moringa tree resource in
1 Expanding Horizons at One Acre Fund McGill.docxhoney725342
1
Expanding Horizons at One Acre Fund
McGill Management International Case Competition 2017
Nearly 800 million people in the world suffer from food insecurity.1 This hunger, or chronic
undernourishment, means that a person is not able to acquire enough food to meet the daily minimum
dietary energy requirements. Undernourishment is the primary contributor to physical and mental stunting
in children, and is the number one factor in child mortality. Every day that a child fails to eat, that child
loses a little bit of his or her future. Amongst the world’s extreme poor, one in three children are
permanently stunted from a lifetime of not eating enough. When combined with poor access to health care,
one in 10 extremely poor children die before they reach the age of five.2 Without a doubt, food insecurity
presents a significant barrier to unleashing the world’s full human potential.
One Acre Fund (“OAF”) is a non-profit organization that serves farmers, who they believe are the key to
ending poverty and hunger. OAF is constantly looking to deliver more social good through its product and
service offerings. Having scaled rapidly in its first ten years of operations, OAF must now decide how to
strategically proceed into new or existing markets.
One Acre Fund: The First Decade
Smallholder farmers comprise 75% percent of the world’s poorest citizens, including 50 million households
in Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest prevalence of hunger; one in four people are undernourished.3
Farmers represent one of the most neglected groups of poor people on the planet, most of whom live in
remote areas and do not have access to basic agricultural tools and training.
In 2005 Andrew Youn, founder and CEO of OAF, visited Western Kenya and witnessed the devastating
reality of the “hunger season”. This is a period of one to nine months when the crop stockpiles start to run
out and meals are cut down to two, one or even none per day. He wondered to himself why these farmers
had been left behind, given that the Green Revolution had brought improved farming inputs, tools and
technologies to farmers elsewhere in the world, helping to almost eliminate agricultural poverty in these
places. Youn was convinced that if we could simply deliver high quality inputs, tools and training, these
smallholder farmers could pull themselves out of poverty, feed their families and neighbours, and ultimately
eradicate hunger in their communities.
“Most of the world’s poor are farmers. This really gets me excited. All of these people, one profession.
Think about how powerful that is. When farmers become more productive, then more than half the world’s
poor earn more money and climb out of poverty. When they earn more food, they don’t just help themselves
but they help feed healthy communities and thriving economies.”4
1 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United ...
Why Informal Seed Sector is Important in Food SecuritySeeds
This document discusses the importance of the informal seed sector in food security in Eastern and Southern Africa. It provides background on seed systems in Africa, including informal seed supply systems, integrated community-based systems, and formal commercial systems. The informal sector provides 80-100% of seeds for most crops but receives little government support. The document also discusses the status and economic value of seed industries in Africa and opportunities available through international treaties and agreements to strengthen support for the informal seed sector.
This document provides an introduction to a handbook for firms seeking to source from smallholder farmers in a sustainable manner. It notes the challenges of meeting growing global food demand given constraints on arable land and declining yields. Sourcing from smallholder farmers represents an opportunity for firms to expand supply and improve productivity, though it also presents challenges related to quality, social and environmental impacts, farm management skills, and transparency. The handbook aims to provide guidance to firms on developing successful partnerships and programs with smallholders.
Successful Community-Based Seed Production StrategiesSeeds
CIMMYT is an organization that conducts agricultural research and training related to maize and wheat throughout developing countries. It works to create and share knowledge to increase food security, farming productivity and sustainability. Most smallholder farmers in Southern Africa rely on informal seed systems and drought relief for seed, with over 90% of their needs met through these channels. National programs and international centers have developed stress-tolerant varieties suited to smallholders, but access remains limited due to delays in variety development and dissemination. Innovative community-based seed production strategies coupled with policies supporting regional variety registration could help smallholders gain better access to improved varieties and seeds.
The document discusses the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Agricultural Development strategy, which aims to reduce hunger and poverty for millions of small farm families in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. It focuses on helping small-scale farmers increase their productivity and incomes through improved seeds, tools, farming techniques, market access, and policies. It emphasizes the importance of including women farmers, who make up a large portion of the agricultural workforce but face significant constraints, in these efforts to maximize their impact on nutrition, food security and economic development.
Seed certification and marketing policies in Mali: Do farmers actually benefit?ICRISAT
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is a rapidly developing region of over 800 million people, but its population is projected to reach 1.5 billion people with profound implications for agricultural production and food security. unregulated traditional and informal seed systems because farmer associations find the certification process quite lengthy and they hardly afford the associated certification costs. On average, the certification of one ton of sorghum seeds, for instance, costs almost US$146 for both field inspections and laboratory operations. These costs are too expensive for most farmer cooperatives, and particularly prohibitive for individual farmers. Given this challenge, although farmers still register as seed producers, they often continue to sell their seed via informal networks without any quality control, which affects crop yields and undermines the effort to promote improved varieties and to adapt to the changing agricultural conditions. To help deal with these challenges, private enterprises have recently begun partnering with farmer associations;the private enterprises pay for the seed production and certification costs and buy the resulting seeds from the farmers. The aim of this partnership is to decentralize and increase the number of seed distribution points at the community level, improve the quality of the seed and help professionalize small-scale seed production and distribution.Sustainable agricultural intensification is seen as a serious option in the SSA region for satisfying 2050 global food requirements. At the same time, many challenges still hinder crop intensification in the region.
CIAT’s Partnership with Australia: Opportunity, food security, and economic e...CIAT
CIAT’s work harnesses global expertise and partnerships to empower poor people to take control of their earning capacity. In line with Australia’s own vision to promote sound economic growth and global stability, CIAT looks forward to continuing its work with long-standing partners
including the Australian government, and shedding light on today’s global challenges and solutions.
This is about the Advocacy campaign of Sarimanok that tackles about the Goodness of Egg. This powerpoint includes Our Marketing Plan for "The Good Egg" by Sarimanok's advocacy campaign.
Banking for the Future: Savings, Security and SeedsSeeds
This document summarizes experiences with community seed banks in 9 countries. It discusses how community seed banks can help promote Farmers' Rights by conserving traditional varieties and knowledge, ensuring seed security, and facilitating seed exchange. Community seed banks are established and run by local communities to store and provide access to genetically diverse seeds adapted to local conditions. They complement formal seed conservation and help maintain crop diversity, though currently reach only a small number of farmers.
Sowing seeds of prosperity - A success story from MalawiICRISAT
About 49% of seed producers in Malawi are female. The Phalula Women’s Group plays an important role in increasing certified legume seed supply in the country. Challenge - Farmers has limited access to improved high-yielding and fast-maturing varieties of groundnut and pigeonpea.
Recognizing the enormous difficulties farmers face and supporting organizations working to improve their lot is essential in a world where agriculture is the foundation of our civilization. Among these groups, Kissan Charity stands out for its extraordinary initiatives to support farmers and transform the agriculture sector. This blog article explores Kissan Charity's remarkable activities that are focused on enhancing farmers' lives and building a sustainable agricultural future.
1. Cultivating Hope: Vision & Mission of Kissan Charity The goal of affluent farmers and thriving farming communities is at the core of Kissan Charity's purpose. Through a variety of activities, the organization aims to solve the complex problems faced by farmers. Improved livelihoods, access to education and training, support for farmers' rights, and encouragement of innovative agricultural practices are a few of these. Kissan Charity seeks to empower farmers and have a beneficial influence on their lives and communities by tackling these issues comprehensively.
2. Knowledge is Power: Programmes for Education and Training Kissan Charity is aware of how important information is in changing farming practices. The organization offers extensive training and education programs to farmers in order to provide them with the most recent methods and information. These programs address a wide range of issues, such as organic farming techniques, effective resource management, and sustainable agricultural practices. Kissan Charity assists farmers in maximizing production, minimizing environmental effects, and adapting to shifting agricultural environments by supplying them with information.
3. Empowering Women Farmers: Overcoming Obstacles and Unlocking Potential Women are essential to agriculture in many rural areas, yet they frequently have particular socioeconomic difficulties. Kissan Charity is committed to empowering women farmers via education, financial assistance, and resource access. The organization promotes women's leadership and entrepreneurship in agriculture by dismantling gender barriers, which results in economic empowerment and a positive social transformation in rural areas.
4. Collective Strength: Strengthening Farmer Cooperatives Recognizing the power of collaboration, Kissan Charity actively promotes the formation and strengthening of farmer cooperatives. These cooperatives enable farmers to pool their resources, share knowledge, collectively negotiate better prices for their produce, and access markets more efficiently. By encouraging cooperation and unity, Kissan Charity fosters resilience and enhances the bargaining power of farmers, ensuring their long-term sustainability.
5. Harnessing Innovation: Advancement of Agriculture through Technology Kissan Charity promotes the incorporation of technical developments into agriculture as the world adopts them. Farmers may adopt precision farming, digital solutions, and intelligent agricultural practices
The document announces a Save Our Seeds Rally organized by the National Farmers Union on March 5th in Kingston, Ontario to oppose proposed changes to Canada's Plant Breeders' Rights Act. The rally will include a public march, a keynote speech from an expert on seed issues, and an opportunity for letter writing to government officials. The proposed changes would strengthen corporate control over seeds and threaten farmers' right to save, exchange, and sell seeds.
IKSL's initiatives are helping to alleviate poverty and hunger in several ways. Farmers are increasing production and income by applying information from IKSL on better management practices and timely updates on weather and market prices. Specific examples show farmers doubling crop yields and tripling profits. Health messages are benefiting women. Education messages helped one family enroll a girl in school. Recognition from organizations like the Gates Foundation and partnerships with groups like the UN show IKSL is effectively contributing to achieving UN Millennium Development Goals.
IKSL's initiatives are helping to alleviate poverty and hunger in several ways. Farmers are increasing production and income by applying information from IKSL on better management practices and timely updates on weather and market prices. Specific examples show farmers doubling crop yields and tripling profits. Health messages are benefiting women. Education messages helped one family enroll a girl in school. IKSL is also working with self-help groups and contract farming to further the UN's Millennium Development Goals.
This document summarizes how farmers in Taita Taveta, Kenya are coping with challenges from climate change, such as increased pests and diseases and unpredictable rainfall patterns. The International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) has helped farmers by establishing automatic weather stations to provide climate information and training farmers in environmentally-friendly pest management methods like using parasitoids. This has helped increase crop yields for farmers growing crops like French beans for export, while reducing conflicts over water shortages caused by climate impacts. The document provides an example of a farmer using a natural fungus-based pesticide to control pests in a sustainable way.
Moringa is a plantfood of high nutritional value, ecologically and economically beneficial and readily available in the countries hardest hit by the food crisis. http://miracletrees.org/ http://moringatrees.org/
The document outlines Timor-Leste's National Seed System for Released Varieties, which aims to provide local farming families with reliable access to quality seed of improved crop varieties. The system involves crop research and development to identify higher-yielding varieties suited to local conditions. Seed is then produced through commercial, contract, and community channels and subject to quality control. The vision is for enough locally-produced seed to meet one-third of national demand, increasing food security and self-sufficiency. Progress to date includes establishing seed production and distribution networks across the country.
CIMMYT is an international organization that works to sustainably increase the productivity of maize and wheat systems to improve global food security and livelihoods. It has over 70 years of experience in genetic research and development. CIMMYT leads research programs on maize and wheat, develops improved varieties, stores genetic resources, trains thousands of professionals annually, and partners with hundreds of organizations across developing countries. Its work benefits smallholder farmers by increasing yields, improving nutrition, and strengthening agricultural systems.
The document discusses opportunities for increased cooperation between the Dutch agri-food sector and smallholder farmers in developing countries. It argues that greater partnerships could benefit smallholder farmers through professionalization and access to new markets, while also helping Dutch companies access new sourcing opportunities and emerging markets. The campaign aims to encourage businesses, governments, and knowledge institutions to intensify cooperation with smallholder farmers and their organizations to achieve sustainable development goals and meet growing global food demand.
This document provides a business plan for producing nutritional supplements from Moringa oleifera trees. The plan proposes producing Moringa capsule supplements, liquid fertilizer, porridge flour, topical ointment, and herbal iodine powder. The major products will be porridge flour and capsules, targeting feeding programs in schools and orphanages across Western Kenya. The business expects to earn a net profit of $491,026 in year 1, $807,777 in year 2, and $124,587 in year 3, with annual sales reaching $2.3 million by year 3. The business aims to alleviate malnutrition and generate livelihoods through utilizing the abundant and underutilized Moringa tree resource in
1 Expanding Horizons at One Acre Fund McGill.docxhoney725342
1
Expanding Horizons at One Acre Fund
McGill Management International Case Competition 2017
Nearly 800 million people in the world suffer from food insecurity.1 This hunger, or chronic
undernourishment, means that a person is not able to acquire enough food to meet the daily minimum
dietary energy requirements. Undernourishment is the primary contributor to physical and mental stunting
in children, and is the number one factor in child mortality. Every day that a child fails to eat, that child
loses a little bit of his or her future. Amongst the world’s extreme poor, one in three children are
permanently stunted from a lifetime of not eating enough. When combined with poor access to health care,
one in 10 extremely poor children die before they reach the age of five.2 Without a doubt, food insecurity
presents a significant barrier to unleashing the world’s full human potential.
One Acre Fund (“OAF”) is a non-profit organization that serves farmers, who they believe are the key to
ending poverty and hunger. OAF is constantly looking to deliver more social good through its product and
service offerings. Having scaled rapidly in its first ten years of operations, OAF must now decide how to
strategically proceed into new or existing markets.
One Acre Fund: The First Decade
Smallholder farmers comprise 75% percent of the world’s poorest citizens, including 50 million households
in Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest prevalence of hunger; one in four people are undernourished.3
Farmers represent one of the most neglected groups of poor people on the planet, most of whom live in
remote areas and do not have access to basic agricultural tools and training.
In 2005 Andrew Youn, founder and CEO of OAF, visited Western Kenya and witnessed the devastating
reality of the “hunger season”. This is a period of one to nine months when the crop stockpiles start to run
out and meals are cut down to two, one or even none per day. He wondered to himself why these farmers
had been left behind, given that the Green Revolution had brought improved farming inputs, tools and
technologies to farmers elsewhere in the world, helping to almost eliminate agricultural poverty in these
places. Youn was convinced that if we could simply deliver high quality inputs, tools and training, these
smallholder farmers could pull themselves out of poverty, feed their families and neighbours, and ultimately
eradicate hunger in their communities.
“Most of the world’s poor are farmers. This really gets me excited. All of these people, one profession.
Think about how powerful that is. When farmers become more productive, then more than half the world’s
poor earn more money and climb out of poverty. When they earn more food, they don’t just help themselves
but they help feed healthy communities and thriving economies.”4
1 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United ...
Why Informal Seed Sector is Important in Food SecuritySeeds
This document discusses the importance of the informal seed sector in food security in Eastern and Southern Africa. It provides background on seed systems in Africa, including informal seed supply systems, integrated community-based systems, and formal commercial systems. The informal sector provides 80-100% of seeds for most crops but receives little government support. The document also discusses the status and economic value of seed industries in Africa and opportunities available through international treaties and agreements to strengthen support for the informal seed sector.
This document provides an introduction to a handbook for firms seeking to source from smallholder farmers in a sustainable manner. It notes the challenges of meeting growing global food demand given constraints on arable land and declining yields. Sourcing from smallholder farmers represents an opportunity for firms to expand supply and improve productivity, though it also presents challenges related to quality, social and environmental impacts, farm management skills, and transparency. The handbook aims to provide guidance to firms on developing successful partnerships and programs with smallholders.
Successful Community-Based Seed Production StrategiesSeeds
CIMMYT is an organization that conducts agricultural research and training related to maize and wheat throughout developing countries. It works to create and share knowledge to increase food security, farming productivity and sustainability. Most smallholder farmers in Southern Africa rely on informal seed systems and drought relief for seed, with over 90% of their needs met through these channels. National programs and international centers have developed stress-tolerant varieties suited to smallholders, but access remains limited due to delays in variety development and dissemination. Innovative community-based seed production strategies coupled with policies supporting regional variety registration could help smallholders gain better access to improved varieties and seeds.
The document discusses the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Agricultural Development strategy, which aims to reduce hunger and poverty for millions of small farm families in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. It focuses on helping small-scale farmers increase their productivity and incomes through improved seeds, tools, farming techniques, market access, and policies. It emphasizes the importance of including women farmers, who make up a large portion of the agricultural workforce but face significant constraints, in these efforts to maximize their impact on nutrition, food security and economic development.
Seed certification and marketing policies in Mali: Do farmers actually benefit?ICRISAT
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is a rapidly developing region of over 800 million people, but its population is projected to reach 1.5 billion people with profound implications for agricultural production and food security. unregulated traditional and informal seed systems because farmer associations find the certification process quite lengthy and they hardly afford the associated certification costs. On average, the certification of one ton of sorghum seeds, for instance, costs almost US$146 for both field inspections and laboratory operations. These costs are too expensive for most farmer cooperatives, and particularly prohibitive for individual farmers. Given this challenge, although farmers still register as seed producers, they often continue to sell their seed via informal networks without any quality control, which affects crop yields and undermines the effort to promote improved varieties and to adapt to the changing agricultural conditions. To help deal with these challenges, private enterprises have recently begun partnering with farmer associations;the private enterprises pay for the seed production and certification costs and buy the resulting seeds from the farmers. The aim of this partnership is to decentralize and increase the number of seed distribution points at the community level, improve the quality of the seed and help professionalize small-scale seed production and distribution.Sustainable agricultural intensification is seen as a serious option in the SSA region for satisfying 2050 global food requirements. At the same time, many challenges still hinder crop intensification in the region.
CIAT’s Partnership with Australia: Opportunity, food security, and economic e...CIAT
CIAT’s work harnesses global expertise and partnerships to empower poor people to take control of their earning capacity. In line with Australia’s own vision to promote sound economic growth and global stability, CIAT looks forward to continuing its work with long-standing partners
including the Australian government, and shedding light on today’s global challenges and solutions.
This is about the Advocacy campaign of Sarimanok that tackles about the Goodness of Egg. This powerpoint includes Our Marketing Plan for "The Good Egg" by Sarimanok's advocacy campaign.
Banking for the Future: Savings, Security and SeedsSeeds
This document summarizes experiences with community seed banks in 9 countries. It discusses how community seed banks can help promote Farmers' Rights by conserving traditional varieties and knowledge, ensuring seed security, and facilitating seed exchange. Community seed banks are established and run by local communities to store and provide access to genetically diverse seeds adapted to local conditions. They complement formal seed conservation and help maintain crop diversity, though currently reach only a small number of farmers.
Sowing seeds of prosperity - A success story from MalawiICRISAT
About 49% of seed producers in Malawi are female. The Phalula Women’s Group plays an important role in increasing certified legume seed supply in the country. Challenge - Farmers has limited access to improved high-yielding and fast-maturing varieties of groundnut and pigeonpea.
Recognizing the enormous difficulties farmers face and supporting organizations working to improve their lot is essential in a world where agriculture is the foundation of our civilization. Among these groups, Kissan Charity stands out for its extraordinary initiatives to support farmers and transform the agriculture sector. This blog article explores Kissan Charity's remarkable activities that are focused on enhancing farmers' lives and building a sustainable agricultural future.
1. Cultivating Hope: Vision & Mission of Kissan Charity The goal of affluent farmers and thriving farming communities is at the core of Kissan Charity's purpose. Through a variety of activities, the organization aims to solve the complex problems faced by farmers. Improved livelihoods, access to education and training, support for farmers' rights, and encouragement of innovative agricultural practices are a few of these. Kissan Charity seeks to empower farmers and have a beneficial influence on their lives and communities by tackling these issues comprehensively.
2. Knowledge is Power: Programmes for Education and Training Kissan Charity is aware of how important information is in changing farming practices. The organization offers extensive training and education programs to farmers in order to provide them with the most recent methods and information. These programs address a wide range of issues, such as organic farming techniques, effective resource management, and sustainable agricultural practices. Kissan Charity assists farmers in maximizing production, minimizing environmental effects, and adapting to shifting agricultural environments by supplying them with information.
3. Empowering Women Farmers: Overcoming Obstacles and Unlocking Potential Women are essential to agriculture in many rural areas, yet they frequently have particular socioeconomic difficulties. Kissan Charity is committed to empowering women farmers via education, financial assistance, and resource access. The organization promotes women's leadership and entrepreneurship in agriculture by dismantling gender barriers, which results in economic empowerment and a positive social transformation in rural areas.
4. Collective Strength: Strengthening Farmer Cooperatives Recognizing the power of collaboration, Kissan Charity actively promotes the formation and strengthening of farmer cooperatives. These cooperatives enable farmers to pool their resources, share knowledge, collectively negotiate better prices for their produce, and access markets more efficiently. By encouraging cooperation and unity, Kissan Charity fosters resilience and enhances the bargaining power of farmers, ensuring their long-term sustainability.
5. Harnessing Innovation: Advancement of Agriculture through Technology Kissan Charity promotes the incorporation of technical developments into agriculture as the world adopts them. Farmers may adopt precision farming, digital solutions, and intelligent agricultural practices
The document announces a Save Our Seeds Rally organized by the National Farmers Union on March 5th in Kingston, Ontario to oppose proposed changes to Canada's Plant Breeders' Rights Act. The rally will include a public march, a keynote speech from an expert on seed issues, and an opportunity for letter writing to government officials. The proposed changes would strengthen corporate control over seeds and threaten farmers' right to save, exchange, and sell seeds.
IKSL's initiatives are helping to alleviate poverty and hunger in several ways. Farmers are increasing production and income by applying information from IKSL on better management practices and timely updates on weather and market prices. Specific examples show farmers doubling crop yields and tripling profits. Health messages are benefiting women. Education messages helped one family enroll a girl in school. Recognition from organizations like the Gates Foundation and partnerships with groups like the UN show IKSL is effectively contributing to achieving UN Millennium Development Goals.
IKSL's initiatives are helping to alleviate poverty and hunger in several ways. Farmers are increasing production and income by applying information from IKSL on better management practices and timely updates on weather and market prices. Specific examples show farmers doubling crop yields and tripling profits. Health messages are benefiting women. Education messages helped one family enroll a girl in school. IKSL is also working with self-help groups and contract farming to further the UN's Millennium Development Goals.
This document summarizes how farmers in Taita Taveta, Kenya are coping with challenges from climate change, such as increased pests and diseases and unpredictable rainfall patterns. The International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) has helped farmers by establishing automatic weather stations to provide climate information and training farmers in environmentally-friendly pest management methods like using parasitoids. This has helped increase crop yields for farmers growing crops like French beans for export, while reducing conflicts over water shortages caused by climate impacts. The document provides an example of a farmer using a natural fungus-based pesticide to control pests in a sustainable way.
Moringa is a plantfood of high nutritional value, ecologically and economically beneficial and readily available in the countries hardest hit by the food crisis. http://miracletrees.org/ http://moringatrees.org/
1. 18 timor-leste issue one 2015 PARTNERS
There is great potential for
commercial activity once the
right crop varieties are in the
hands of farmers
By Kate Bevitt
T
here is an ageless philosophy that the
Seeds of Life (SoL) program inTimor-
Leste subscribes to as team members
partner with the young country to build
a vibrant primary industries sector:
Give a man a fish and you feed him
for a day; teach a man to fish and he
can feed himself for a lifetime.
InTimor-Leste that has meant helping farmers’
groups grow high-quality seed of productive
crop varieties for commercial sale. Since 2013, SoL
has helped 57 farmers’groups with more than
1,500 members to become commercial seed
producers (CSPs) under the National Seed System
for ReleasedVarieties (http://seedsoflifetimor.org/
national-seed-system).
Following harvest, these producers sell up to
half their seed to the Timor-Leste Government
and NGOs for distribution to farming
households, while traders and agricultural
shops buy seed for resale in kiosks across the
country.
Turning these farmers’groups into
businesses has had many positive impacts.
Here are just 10 benefits for farming families,
the country of Timor-Leste, producers and the
rural communities.
10good things
about commercial
farmers’ groups
For the farmers
Increased access to improved varieties
1Past government efforts at distributing
imported seed were often ineffective due to
inappropriate varieties (incorrect genetics), variable
seed quality (too old and with low germination)
and late delivery (distributed past the optimum
planting date). CSPs provide a more effective
mechanism for getting improved seed into farmers’
hands as they have a commercial incentive to have
seed ready before the planting season.
Greater seed choice for farmers
2Improved distribution of the improved seed
varieties enables farmers to access high-
quality seed that is locally produced, productive,
open-pollinated, reproducible and well-adapted
to Timor-Leste’s climate and soil. This gives
families greater choice over the varieties they
plant, instead of using varieties less suited to
local conditions.
For the country
Improved seed security and sovereignty
3Having skilled and experiencedTimorese
farmers locally producing sufficient quantities
of improved-variety seeds will help the country
achieve its goal of seed security and sovereignty.
The government stores reserve stocks of this seed,
enabling the country to better withstand natural
disasters and pest or disease outbreaks.The
government also saves money by not having to
buy, transport and store imported seed.
For the producers
Guaranteed market for buying
and selling seed
4CSPs have a guaranteed buyer for their seed
in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries
(MAF), which will forward-contract a specified
amount of seed for the coming cropping season at
an agreed price. Agricultural shops, NGOs, traders
and other development projects are encouraged
to do the same, improving producers’certainty
that they can sell their seed after harvest.
Money-making opportunities
5Selling seed is a profitable business in Timor-
Leste, where 63% of all households engage
in crop production and subsistence agriculture
is the main source of livelihood for many rural
householdsi
. In a country where 68% of the total
population is considered poorii
, individual CSP
members can earn hundreds of dollars each
year, significantly more than the US$110 (A$135)
average annual household incomeiii
.
Economic flow of profits
6Many groups reinvest money into their CSP
business to build a seed warehouse, or buy
group assets such as motorbikes and 1,000 or
2,000-litre steel silos. Members receive a portion
of their group’s profits, helping to support their
families, renovate their homes and pay for their
children’s school fees. Extra profits also mean CSP
members are likely to buy more food, as research
shows that an extra dollar of income from selling
food crops translates to 87 cents more spent on
food consumption.
4
321
photo: Jessy Betty, Seeds of Life photo: Alexia Skok, Seeds of Life photo: Jessy Betty, Seeds of Life
photo: Conor Ashleigh, Seeds of Life
2. More food for eating
7Beyond selling seed, CSPs also reserve
undersized seed for their members to store
and eat throughout the coming year.“Thanks to
our good production results, the members are
not only able to make a good living but also have
food to eat,”says Martinho dos Santos, chief of
Naroman CSP in the Liquica district. This higher
agricultural production—thanks to the improved
varieties—is notable in a country with some of
the lowest yields in South-East Asia and where
62% of farming families experience one or more
months of food shortage each year.
Success builds confidence of members
8Making money and having success as a
commercial producer builds the confidence
of members, who independently start generating
other business activities, such as raising livestock
or running a kiosk. To support this, SoL has given
business-plan training to each CSP to build their
skills in managing group activities, finances and
the marketing of seed.
“This training helped us understand how
we can add another business activity [selling
traditional Timorese fabrics] to the group to
supplement our income from producing and
selling seed,”says Belinda Ximenes, a member of
Fitun Leste CSP in the Baucau district.
For rural communities
Creation of social capital
9The activities and successes of a CSP help
to strengthen the relationship not only
between group members, but also with their
wider community. SoL has helped interested CSPs
establish savings and loans initiatives, thereby
enabling members to securely save money and
locallyaccesscredit.CSPsalsoshareinformationand
improved seeds with other community members
and vulnerable households, so the benefits of the
improved varieties are spread further.
A positive example to others
10CSPs are a positive example to other
farmer groups and communities of their
ability to make a successful livelihood from
selling high-quality seeds. To encourage the
sharing of their knowledge and experiences, SoL
organises cross visits for CSP representatives and
extension officers from each district to visit other
CSPs in neighbouring districts.
The introduction of improved food crop
varieties has been a game changer in Timor-
Leste. Now with commercial farmers’groups
producing larger quantities of this seed, this will
further strengthen Seeds of Life and the Timor-
Leste Government’s efforts to achieve food and
seed security and sovereignty. n
ACIAR project: CIM/2009/049: Seeds of Life 3
More information: Kate Bevitt,
Seeds of Life communication adviser,
kate.bevitt@seedsoflifetimor.org
More on project activities can be viewed at:
www.seedsoflifetimor.org,
http://vimeo.com/109073628
PARTNERS issue one 2015 19
1. A farmer from the 26-member Rai Mean commercial
seed producer group in Gariwai, Baucau district, sits on his
group’s bumper Sele maize yield. 2. A milling machine used
to prepare maize for eating. 3. Women from a community
seed production group in Natarbora, Manatuto district, show
some of the group’s Utamua peanuts. 4. Labourers pick
young rice seedlings on a farm outside Maliana, Bobonaro
district. 5. Francisco Jose Martinez tends to the Sele corn
crop planted by his 10-member community seed production
group outside Maubisse, Ainaro district. 6. Alberto da Costa
is a contract grower with Seeds of Life.
6
5
i
Government ofTimor-Leste (2010):
www.statistics.gov.tl/category/publications/census-publications/2010
ii
United Nations Development Program (2013):
www.hdr.undp.org/en/2013-report
iii
Centre for Development Economics, Monash University:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4LnPpSUepUlist=PL5-
wYcyMyLz_J9YdqCwyVSN215rsAbqoL
The Seeds of Life program
Seeds of Life (SoL), a program based within
the Timor-Leste Ministry of Agriculture and
Fisheries (MAF), is funded by the Timor-
Leste Government, ACIAR and the Australian
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The SoL has been working since 2001 to
identify more productive varieties of staple
food crops. To date, 12 improved varieties of
maize, rice, peanut, sweetpotato and cassava
with 24–131% yield advantages have been
released, and about 41,000 families (33% of
food crop households) are already growing
one or more of these varieties.
However, for the benefits of improved
varieties to reach farmers, enough seed must
be produced for commercial and community
spread. That’s why MAF–SoL launched the
National Seed System for Released Varieties
in mid-2013 to ensure farmers have secure
access to good seed of improved varieties
when the rains come.
A key tenet of this system is the
involvement of private-sector actors—
contracted farmers to produce certified
seed, commercial seed producers to grow
commercial seed, and traders and agricultural
shops to sell the seed.
These commercial stakeholders
also complement the more than 1,200
community seed groups producing low-cost
community seed for planting by their
14,000 members and sharing or bartering in
their communities.
photo: Conor Ashleigh, Seeds of Life
photo: Conor Ashleigh, Seeds of Life